Soil Solutions with Jessica Gnad - HPJ Talk

HPJ Talk is a weekly podcast featuring commentary and news for farmers, ranchers, and those who live and work in the High Plains. Soil Solutions with Jessica Gnad emphasizes the importance of producing healthy soil, and provides important tips and insights from industry leaders on the topic of soil health and regenerative agriculture. #RideWithUs #HighPlainsJournal #GreatPlainsRegeneration #SoilHealth

A Thirst for Knowledge Drives Regenerative Agriculture feat. Trisha Jackson of PrairieFood 11/07/2022

How Soil Health Sustainability Helps Producers Build for the Future feat. Erin Silva, Ph.D. 11/07/2022

Leading with Soil Health to Achieve Balance with Mother Nature feat. Rick Clark 07/04/2022

Precision Farming Tech, Crop Diversity with Livestock, and Regenerative Ag Principles feat. Monte Bottens 05/09/2022

Precision Farming Tech, Crop Diversity with Livestock, and Regenerative Ag Principles feat. Monte Bottens Welcome back to Soil Solutions with Jessica Gnad. This episode features Monte Bottens, a fifth-generation Illinois farmer who owns and operates Bottens Family Farm, Grateful Graze, is the Founder and CEO of Ag Solutions Network Inc., and host of the AgEmerge Podcast. Monte shares what regenerative ag means to him and how producers can get started with it themselves, focusing on what consumers actually want, and how his operation Grateful Graze is using soil health principles. Monte Bottens is a business owner, entrepreneur, and thought leader who has deep roots in agriculture. Raised as a fifth-generation, northwestern Illinois farmer, Monte is a business owner, entrepreneur and thought leader. Monte began his farming career with two bred sows given to him by his grandmother. Thanks to great guidance from his dad and equipment-sharing startup assistance, today he’s the owner of Bottens Family Farm (BFF). The farm utilizes the latest agricultural innovations in precision farming technology and crop management systems while putting into practice advanced regenerative ag principles. BFF produces a diversity of crops and grass-fed livestock. which are sold direct to consumers under the Grateful Graze label. He is the Founder, President and CEO of Ag Solutions Network, Inc. (ASN) headquartered in Moline, Illinois, where he leads the development and distribution of the POWER2GRO crop production system. ASN utilizes the latest technological advancements and highest-quality ingredients to enable farmers to build soil health and soil wealth. Monte is also the host of ASN’s podcast, AgEmerge where featured guests discuss new ideas, grower insights, research and emerging technology. Monte is the Founder and Partner of California Ag Solutions, Inc. (CAS) in Madera, CA. The CAS team serves farmers of the Central Valley by helping them adopt reduced tillage techniques combined with improved water and nutrient efficiency using ASN’s POWER2GRO system on a wide variety of crops. Monte has a love for the agricultural diversity in California. He serves on the leadership team of Conservation Agriculture Systems Innovation (CASI) center that develops integrated reduced tillage and irrigation techniques in California and globally. His excitement for ag tech and continuous process improvement also led him to get involved with the UC Davis Entrepreneurship Program and the Sacramento Angels. He has a desire to teach others and make region specific practices applicable for all different crops, soil types, and climates throughout the US. He has presented at many conferences and universities sharing his passion for soil health and agriculture innovation.Monte is a graduate of Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. He and his wife Robyn live in Sherrard, Illinois, close to family and the family farm. /episode/index/show/hpjtalk/id/23056619

KDA Division of Conservation: Central Region feat. Chad Basinger 04/25/2022

KDA Division of Conservation: Western Region feat. Michael Thompson 04/18/2022

KDA Division of Conservation: Eastern Region feat. Rod Vorhees and Daryl Donohue 04/11/2022

KDA Division of Conservation: Eastern Region feat. Rod Vorhees and Daryl Donohue Welcome back to Soil Solutions with Jessica Gnad. This is the first of three episodes highlighting the Kansas Dept. of Agriculture's Division of Conservation. Rod Vorhees and Daryl Donohue are KDA Divison of Conservation representatives for the Eastern and Southeastern regions of the state of Kansas. In this episode, they share their thoughts on the importance soil conservation and conservation partnerships, and the unique needs and challenges for soil health and conservation in their part of the state. For nearly three decades, awareness of soil health and of implementing conservation practices to encourage healthier soil have been promoted at both the local and the state level by Rod Vorhees. Vorhees is the chairman of the Wilson County Conservation District, and he serves as the chairman of the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s State Conservation Commission (SCC). He has provided leadership, and first-hand knowledge of working on the land, during sessions with soil carbon organization representatives and through contact with soil health organizations at forage plots and land health monitoring locations. Rod Vorhees’ family’s ranching operation, Lazy VJ Farms, located near Coyville, was recognized with the 2017 Kansas Leopold Conservation Award. A native of Fredonia, Kansas, Daryl Donohue serves as treasurer of the Wilson County Conservation District Board of Supervisors. He serves as Kansas Association of Conservation Districts (KACD) Area V Director. Donohue is a rancher in northern Wilson County, Kansas, and he has been utilizing growing season burns, or “summer” burns, as a management practice for about many years. He actively promotes the use of prescribed burning to prevent cedar tree encroachment and to assist landowners and producers in recovering land invaded by cedar trees and, while doing so, encouraging native grasses and forbs to repopulate and thrive. /episode/index/show/hpjtalk/id/22757921

You Can't Buy Soil Health: Focusing on the Principles, Integrating Livestock, and More feat. Macauley Kincaid 03/28/2022

Water Infiltration, Crop Diversity, and The Impact of Your Soil feat. Christie Apple 03/14/2022

Is Soil Health Fake News? feat. Gail Fuller 02/28/2022

Is Soil Health Fake News? feat. Gail Fuller Welcome back to Soil Solutions with Jessica Gnad. Today's episode features Gail Fuller. Gail shares his experience with using cover crops and soil health practices over the years. He shares the importance of the process of learning (and unlearning) farming practices that promote healthy soil, putting soil health ideas into practice, and educating others on the importance and value of healthy soil as well as the significant impact it has on the world. Gail has been experimenting with no-till since the mid-1980's and has been 100% since 1995. The further he gets into his journey, the more regenerating soil health has become his main focus. “The nation that destroys its soil, destroys itself” (FDR) is one of his favorite quotes and one he lives by! Gail thinks the way to grow soil is through biodiversity. He believes diversity, both above and below ground, are key to growing healthy soil. Besides annual cover crops he uses companion crops and perennial cover crops. When it comes to livestock, again, diversity is key. He uses cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens and ducks to graze his covers utilizing intensive rotational or “mob” grazing. “The key to no-till is cover, and the key to covers is livestock.” When Gail started looking into what it would mean for his family farm to be ecologically regenerative, he found himself learning the science behind soil life, photosynthesis, and the carbon, mineral and water cycles. He also started finding direct correlations between the health of the soil and his own health. His exploration led him to organize an annual "Field School" that draws speakers and guests from around the world to share the latest knowledge on regenerative agricultural practices. For Gail, Regenerative Agriculture is not just regenerating soil, but the (re)growing of communities. This includes human, wildlife, and microbial communities. Helping to make them stronger and more resilient. /episode/index/show/hpjtalk/id/22285037